“Do all things without murmurings and disputings:” – Phil. 2:14

Here’s a pretty straight-forward question: are you a pessimist?  Are you a half-empty, things-are-not-so-great kind of person?  Pessimists are pretty easy to detect, just listen to them talk for a few minutes and their speech betrays them.  Oh, they may try to sugar coat things for awhile, but their words are like chocolate-covered pickles: you eventually get down to the vinegary taste.

Winston Churchill said, “The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; the optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”  The major difference between a negative and positive person is attitude.  The way you view something ultimately determines how you feel about that particular thing. How are you viewing life these days?  Do you see things through the cloudy fog of doom, or do you look for the small flicker of light that can brighten your hazy path?—-

Here are a few ways to determine if you are negative.

1. Lack of Appreciation

Those who are negative rarely express gratitude or give thanks.  They rarely acknowledge the goodness of God.

Fix it: Start giving thanks for the smallest things.  Imagine life without power, vehicles, beds, toiletries, and then begin to thank God for all gifts.  In everything give thanks every day!

2.. Constant Drama

Negative people typically feel like they have been wronged in some capacity.  Their lives are filled with endless issues and constant frustration.

Fix it: Avoid circumstances that set you off.  Realize the world does not revolve around you, and that everyone is not out to get you.

3. Critical Spirit

The negative person finds fault in everything and in every situation.  To them, no one is ever right, and nothing is ever good enough.

Fix it: Instead of pointing out the obvious flaws of others, start accentuating and concentrating on the good.  Realize there is a God in glory who has the final say about others, and you are NOT HIM.  Your preference is not the ultimate verdict of life.

4. Selfishness

Negativity is the breeding ground for selfishness.  The negative person rarely thinks of others or makes decisions with the interests of others in mind.

Fix it: Invest in others.  Start right where you are with your family.  Do something kind and lavish for someone today.  Spend time with your child; get your spouse a gift; call someone out of the blue and let them know you are praying for them.  Live as Christ lived: selflessly.

5. Unforgiving Heart

Negativity and bitterness go hand in hand.  The pessimist usually holds grudges and keeps records. In the dark recesses of his heart he is bothered by unresolved issues.  He cannot let things go.

Fix it: Get things right with others.  Consider the forgiveness that Christ extended to you in His death.  Hear his agonizing words from Calvary, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  If God forgave us, who with incalculable sins, stood before Him in need of grace, shouldn’t we also offer the olive branch of forgiveness to others? – Kenneth Kuykendall

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” – Dan. 12:3

“Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” – James 5:20

In 1994, The New York Times reported that graffiti from the 1800s was discovered by workers renovating the Washington Monument. It was quite a different tone from much of the graffiti found today on walls, railcars, and street signs. Here’s what it said:

Whoever is the human instrument under God in the conversion of one soul, erects a monument to his own memory more lofty and enduing than this. 

The inscription was signed with the initials, BFB. No one knows who that is, but this anonymous author’s words can now be seen by the thousands who visit the monument each year.

Though written so long ago, those words ring very true today… and they’re at the heart of today’s verse. Whoever God uses to turn people away from their sin and toward a faith relationship with Jesus Christ makes an impact on eternity!

Perhaps today, there are people in your life who you can point toward Christ. Maybe they live nearby, shop at the same store as you, or you see them in your daily routine. Whoever it is, God wants to use you to tell them about Jesus. And when you do, you can be confident that you’ve made an impact that will last longer than any monument ever built!

Ask God to show you people in your life who need to hear about Jesus. Pray that you would be open to being used by Him to impact eternity. (Copied)

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” – Prov.17:22

“Rejoice evermore.” – 1 Thess. 5:16

Over the years since I have been sending Morning Manna I have posted this article by the famous English preacher F. B. Meyer 3 or 4 times. In light of the current conditions and the morbid mood seen just about everywhere, this is a great reminder of what our attitude should be. Meyer said:

“A happy and cheerful heart is a matter of cultivation. We cannot afford to abandon ourselves entirely to our moods. There are times when we feel depressed and sad, for no special reason, except that a mood is on us! It is at such times that we need to anoint our heads, and wash our faces, that we may not be consumed by our fretfulness, or impose our depression upon others, for nothing is worse than to be a wet blanket! (Mat 6:16-18.)

On the other hand, there is nothing more objectionable than to be always in the presence of a comic person who thinks that every occasion must serve for frolic. After a time one gets as tired of funny stories and perpetual punning as of gloom, but while avoiding this extreme, we must not fall into the other of wearing a lugubrious expression and giving way to a moodiness of spirit, which cannot be accounted for.

We may alter our dispositions and moods by a resolute action of the will. We can refuse to look miserable, to speak mournfully, to be pessimistic, to pass on depression. In a spirit of unselfishness we can put on a cheerful courage, array ourselves in the garments of joy, anoint ourselves with the spirit of praise and thankfulness, and go forth into the world to shed sunbeams rather than shadows on the path of life. Do not nurse your sorrow of heart, lest your spirit and the spirits of others be broken.

We can promote a cheerful heart by dwelling on the bright things of our lot; by counting up the mercies which are left, rather than dwelling on what we have lost. When the heart is full of the light and love of God, can it be other than cheerful? How can this be obtained except by a living union with Jesus Christ. In Him there is an infinitude of supply of peace and joy, sunshine and light. Let us open our hearts to him, and put on these things as we array ourselves each morning in our garments (Isa 61:3-10).

Through all the changing scenes of life, In trouble and in joy, The praises of my God shall still My heart and tongue employ. Amen.”

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,” – Phil 3:8

Shining is always costly. Light comes only at the cost of that which produces it. An unlit candle does no shining. Burning must come before shining. We cannot be of great use to others without cost to ourselves. Burning suggests suffering. We shrink from pain.

We are apt to feel that we are doing the greatest good in the world when we are strong, and able for active duty, and when the heart and hands are full of kindly service.

When we are called aside and can only suffer; when we are sick; when we are consumed with pain; when all our activities have been dropped, we feel that we are no longer of use, that we are not doing anything.

But, if we are patient and submissive, it is almost certain that we are a greater blessing to the world in our time of suffering and pain than we were in the days when we thought we were doing the most of our work. We are burning now, and shining because we are burning.—Evening Thoughts

“The glory of tomorrow is rooted in the drudgery of today.”

Many want the glory without the cross, the shining without the burning, but crucifixion comes before coronation.

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” – Matt.5:18

Christ referred here primarily to the promises and prophecies of the Old Testament. There are thousands of blossoms on the trees in the spring-time that never become fruits; but there are no lost blossoms on the Old Testament tree. The exact fulfillment of prophecy is an irrefutable evidence of Christianity. But the assurance of these words refers also to every promise of the Scripture. Not the smallest of these shall ever fail any one who trusts them. “No word He hath spoken shall ever be broken.” Every pledge God has made He will surely keep. Whenever we find a divine word we may lay hold of it with perfect confidence, and know that we are clinging to a rock that never can be shaken. “For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.”

This is true also of the divine threatenings against sin. Not one of these shall fail to be accomplished upon those who reject God’s words of grace and mercy. Christ said, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life;” and that word will prove true to every one who receives it. But He said also in the same sentence, “He that beieveth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him;” and this word shall just as surely be fulfilled a the other.

In these days, when so many people hold loose views of God’s Word, it is well that we fix it deeply in our minds that whatever God says in the Holy Scriptures He says with authority, that His promises are sure as His own eternity, and that every sentence of His is absolutely irrepealable. “Only words,” we sometimes say, as if words were unreal and unsubstantial; but the words of God are more real and substantial than even earth’s great mountains. – J. R. Miller

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346